Hatfield Fire Marshal Mikele Waldron, second from left, receives a check from Advanced Living Communities President Bill Brown, third from left, and COO Kimberly Krauter at a recent Hatfield’s Commissioners meeting. The check will be used to purchase a handheld gas meter to be used in fire investigations; commissioners President Tom Zipfel stands at far left. Photo courtesy of Hatfield Township.

HATFIELD TWP — A generous donation from Advanced Living Communities has made sure Hatfield’s fire marshal has a new tool at his disposal.

On Jan. 15, Advanced President Bill Brown and COO Kimberly Krauter presented Fire Marshal Mikele Waldron with a check for $2,778 to be used to buy a handheld gas detection meter.

That meter is designed to monitor atmospheric concentrations of oxygen and detect levels of explosive vapors and toxic gases, which fire investigators and other law enforcement can encounter at incident scenes; the new meter “will significantly increase the level of safety during investigations and other incidents,” according to Waldron.

In other news from the commissioners’ Jan. 15 meeting, township Manager Aaron Bibro reported on the impact of the winter storms that struck in early January. According to Bibro the total accumulation of eight inches of snow resulted in use of roughly 190 tons of salt across the township, costing roughly $10,000 for the salt plus just over $9,000 in overtime labor. As of that date, the township had bought 300 tons of salt at a cost of roughly $15,000, half of the $30,000 budgeted for salt purchases in 2014.

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In case of emergencies, the township does have some extra money in the bank as of the end of 2013. Real estate transfer tax receipts came in roughly $100,000 over budget at the close of the year, according to Bibro, and since that revenue source depends on outside market conditions, the board has begun talks on whether to use that money to establish an emergency reserve fund.

A new revenue stream could also be in the township’s future: the board also heard a presentation from Larry Romanowski of P3 Towers, who is proposing to evaluate township properties to see if there are any locations where cell towers can be erected. According to Bibro, the firm pays to construct the tower and shops with mobile carriers to find those whose networks could use coverage in those areas, with the township receiving part of the revenue at no cost to the taxpayers; the commissioners could approve a formal agreement during their Jan. 29 meeting.

Staff have looked into options for naturalizing stormwater basins in three township neighborhoods after bids came back too high last year to do so entirely by using state grant money. Using township Public Works staff and rental equipment that would be partially reimbursed by the $41,000 in state grant money secured next year, Bibro said the township is capable of doing the work on all three basins in-house, and its Shade Tree Commission and Public Works committee have both expressed their support for doing so.

Residents interested in upcoming plans for the Hatfield Aquatic Center, mark your calendars - on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. the township will host a townhall meeting to hear feedback on potential new programs, equipment upgrades, or anything else the public would like to share with pool leadership. The board also discussed accepting public improvements built as part of a new development on Schwab Road, accepted a donation to the township’s Fire Marshal from Advanced Living Communities, and appointed resident David Kresge of McArthur Drive to a five-year term on the Shade Tree commission running through 2018.

Hatfield’s commissioners are scheduled to next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 29 at the township administration building, 1950 School Road, with a Public Works committee meeting to discuss 2014 road projects starting at 5:30 p.m. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.HatfieldTownship.org or follow @HatfieldPA on Twitter.